The best traffic-free bike rides around Lattes

At Plan de Lacan, at the crossroads of several Gardiole trails, these cisterns intended for forest fire defense have been transformed into true works of street art as part of the Cit’Art project, led by the Département de l’Hérault. Since 2017, twelve cisterns in the massif have served as canvases for the creations of several artists from the Line Up collective.

The Phare de la Méditerranée is one of the emblematic monuments of Palavas-les-Flots, but its history is surprising to say the least: it has never been a lighthouse. At this location, the Redoute de Ballestras once stood, a military structure built in the 18th century to defend the port. After its defensive function was abandoned, the redoubt was integrated into several facilities intended to supply Palavas with drinking water. In 1943, a large concrete water tower was built around the existing structures and operated until 1997. Rather than being demolished, the old water tower was rehabilitated between 1998 and 2000 to become the Phare de la Méditerranée: an observation tower, a convention center, and a revolving panoramic restaurant. The redoubt, hidden within the water tower, was dismantled stone by stone and then rebuilt on an islet in the Étang du Levant.

After bypassing the monumental gate of Maguelone, the path crosses the peninsula to the Mediterranean and opens onto Pilou beach. This natural beach is one of the two main bathing areas of Villeneuve-lès-Maguelone, along with Prévost beach. Between the sea, ponds, and natural spaces, the coast remains sparsely urbanized here. The lifeguard station marks the supervised swimming area. The place also holds the memory of a much darker episode: in 1942, the Maguelone shore was mined by German forces to prevent a possible Allied landing. During the demining operations undertaken after the war, the bomb disposal expert Pierre Coutou was mortally wounded here on March 1, 1945. A stele pays tribute to him near the beach.

This monumental gate marks the entrance to the Maguelone estate, between the Rhône à Sète canal and the coastal ponds. Officially named "Portail de Maguelone", this monument is also commonly called "La Porte de Maguelone". Despite its appearance as an ancient gate, it is a 20th-century construction, erected following the conflict that opposed at the beginning of the century the owner of the estate, Frédéric Fabrège, to the municipality of Villeneuve-lès-Maguelone concerning a path giving access to the beach and the existence of a servitude right.

Between the Palavasian ponds and the Mediterranean, the Maguelone peninsula occupies a former island space whose history dates back to Antiquity. Old maps still show Maguelone surrounded by lagoons: in 1570, it appears as an island, and its insular position is still clearly visible on a map of the diocese of Montpellier dated 1641.

This wooden footbridge or "Passerelle d'Ingril" allows you to cross a part of the wetlands bordering the Étang d'Ingril. The path rises slightly above the marshy ground, offering direct contact with the different coastal environments of Aresquiers: lagoon, marsh, sansouïre, and pine forest. This landscape is closely linked to the history of the old salt pans of Frontignan, exploited for three centuries until 1968.

At the entrance to the Bois des Aresquiers, a path begins that crosses a particularly original landscape of the Languedoc coast. Between the ponds of Vic and d’Ingril, the pine forest is interspersed between the lagoons and the salty environments, a proximity to the coast that makes this Mediterranean woodland rare. The site, protected by the Conservatoire du littoral since 1980, is home to remarkable flora: about fifteen rare or threatened species have been recorded there. Among them are Bupleurum glaucum, a protected species discovered on the site, and Ophrys des Corbières, an endemic Mediterranean orchid.

From the greenway, the panorama opens onto the Étang de Vic. This vast coastal lagoon of over 1,000 hectares stretches between the Gardiole massif and the Aresquiers lido. Protected within the Natura 2000 site of the Palavasian ponds and recognized as a wetland of international importance under the Ramsar convention, the pond forms a vast landscape of lagoon, salt marshes, and wetlands here. This opening allows its full extent to be appreciated from the surroundings of Vic-la-Gardiole.